My constituency is Bangalore South. Here, according to me, competition is hot between

• Congress – Krishna Byre Gowda: http://www.krishnabyregowda.in Krishna’s was a very low key campaign.. Trying to be very professional.. But unfortunately too soft for an Indian election.. The congress brand and clean image could work the trick for him..

• BJP – Ananth: http://ananth.org/ Ananth’s campaign was very loud.. Lot of hoopla on the roads and literal spamming using SMS and emails too..

• Independent – Captain Gopinath: http://votecaptaingopi.com/ The very popular Captain Gopi is however the toast of the corporate world.. But the general public would want to vote for a party.. He would probably just split the vote..

May the deserving candidate win..

Some useful information:

For karnataka state:

• Search for your name in the electoral list : http://stg1.kar.nic.in/searchfinalroll_2009/Search.aspx
• List of candidates : http://stg1.kar.nic.in/GE2009Affidavits/

Krishna Byre Gowda’s website gives useful information about IDs accepted:

1. Passport.
2. Driving license.
3. Income Tax Identity (PAN) Card.
4. Service identity card issued to its employees by the state/central government Public sector undertaking, local bodies or public limited companies with photographs.
5. Passbooks issued by Public Sector Banks/Post Office and Kisan Passbooks with photograph.
6. Property document such as pattas, registered deeds etc with photographs.
7. SC/ST/OBC certificate issued by competent authority with photograph (issued upto 28-2-2009).
8. Pension document such as ex-servicemen’s Pension Book/Pension Payment Order ,ex-servicemen’s Widow/Dependent Certificates,Old Age Pension Order, Widow Pension Order with photograph.
9. Freedom Fighter Identity Card with photograph.
10. Arms License (issued upto 28-2-2009).
11. Certificate of Physically Handicapped with photographs issued by the component Authority(issued upto 28-2-2009).
12. Job card issued under NREGA with photograph (issued upto 28-2-2009).
13. Health Insurance Scheme Smart Card with photograph (issued on or before  28-2-2009),
14. Student Identity card issued with photograph issued by the Recognized Educational institution(issued on or before 1-9-2008).
15. Ration Cards with photographs, issued upto 28-2-2009.
16. Ex-Servicemen CSD canteen card with photograph.
17. Sandhya Suraksh Scheme card with photograph issued upto 28-2-2009.
18. The service identity card with photographs issued by the local bodies like Municipal Corporation, CMC TMC, Village Panchayat etc.
19. Senior Ctitizen Card bearing photographs of the holder of the card, issued by the government department.
20. Computer generated temporary ration cards, in original, issued by the Food and Civil Supplies Department containing the relation to head the family.

Any of the above mentioned documents that is available only to the head of the family may be used for identifying the other members of the family provided all the other members come together and are identified by the head of the family.

URL: http://www.pgsem.net/index.php/Convergenz-09/Upcoming-event-Convergenz-09.html

Date: March 15, 2009 (Sunday)

Venue: Auditorium, IIM-Bangalore

Events:

1) Alchemy
The biz plan contest for all with a focus on technology innovations.

2) Case Contest
The case contest for all those with a passion to solve multiple challenges.

3) Quiz
A business quiz with a difference, conducted by the Karnataka Quiz Association this event, with its high profile prizes will be a quizzers delight!

4) Panel Discussion
A lively discussion with a focus on future growth on the following theme: “Search for the next business model in the Indian IT Industry – A wild goose chase or the need of the hour”

THEME – Innovation – Leading the Way:

The world is increasingly looking to the emerging economies to drive future growth. The days of seeking jobs and guidance from the developed countries are fast coming to an end. Our moment of reckoning is here.   India is poised to take the leap – a leap of courage, conviction, energy and imagination. In villages, towns and cities, small but progressive changes are taking place at every level. India has sprung to life, throbbing with expectation and vibrating with new ideas. Changes in every industry, every sector, are taking place at breakneck speed – revving up the economic engine like never before.

“Innovation” is the new buzzword – to increase efficiency and create new directions for growth. From the farmer in Ujjain who uses the internet to plan his produce, to the fisherman in Chennai who uses satellite data to find his next catch, to the taxi driver in Bangalore who uses the GPS to choose the optimal routes, India is finding homemade solutions to its domestic problems.

But as the recession gets deeper, India is also feeling the heat, as evidenced by the recent downward forecasts of GDP growth and mounting job losses in a few sectors. The world is indeed flat, and no country is completely insulated. However, the good news is that the key drivers of growth in this new golden age – Domain knowledge, technology ownership, flawless execution, creative marketing and charismatic leadership – are all found in abundance in India. We have the tools to beat the recession. Recession can be our opportunity.

What is required, though, is a common focus to streamline our thoughts and synergize our actions. Convergenz ’09 provides that focus by bringing together some of the best thought leaders in Indian Business to address the compelling issues of the day at both a macro as well as micro level .

· How can innovation help us beat the recession?
· What will the winning strategies look like?
· How will the world shape up in the coming decade?
· What are the major changes required for our businesses?
· Which are the most exciting tech startups in our country?
· What’s the next disruptive idea?

Convergenz ’09 promises many such fundamental insights that impact the dynamic world of Indian Business. Come March, the masters of the game descend on the sprawling campus of IIM Bangalore to chart the course of the future as they see it. And if you have seen the future a little differently, you belong here. PGSEM welcomes you to unleash your imagination in all its elegant fury. IIMB dares you to Innovate.

[slideshare id=1091326&doc=convergenzinvite-090302125746-phpapp01]

For this year’s event, I’m currently not able to exact link of Fireflies Music Festival 2008.. However, found some info on www.couchsurfing.com via samasmedialab.net.. Thanks for that buddy !

The Fest:
Fireflies Festival of Music begins at 6 p.m. on 23rd Feb and will go on till 6 a.m. on Sunday.

* The fest is ‘inspired by the World Sacred Music Festival, held annually at the mystical city of Fes, in Morocco’.
* The stage is set around the base of a massive banyan-tree. A beautiful amphitheatre overlooks the stage and a lake where beautiful people are sprawled on their colorful mattresses, right under the stars, completely enchanted by the melodious sounds coming out of the banyan tree.
* The sound from the Jamo speakers and colorful lights give the 2000-strong audience a celestial psychedelic effect. It’s a night where culture meets nature, east meets west, passion meets fusion.
* The festival covers a wide range of musical genres: Baul, Qawwali, Hindustani/ Carnatic Fusion, Jazz, Folk, Sacred/ Mystical Music.

[See my fireflies music festival 2007's review for more details of the different genres on show]

Location:
Fireflies, Dinnepalya Village, Kaggalipura Post, Off Kanakarapura Road (approx. 20 kms), Bangalore: 560082

A Brief about the location:
Fireflies is about 80 acres of nature where organic farming is applied. There is a variety of trees. There are about 5 dogs on the ground but only Gaali (meaning Wind in Kannada) entertains the guest. He is a 3 yr old Labrador, a treat for dog-lovers and bitches!

Other Activities:
* tarrot reading!
* Get introduced Indian Handloom fabrics
* A Walk in the woods

Food and Beverages:
* Food will be arranged on the venue.
* Only water will be available
* bring your own beverages

Things to Bring:
* mattresses and pillows
* mosquito repellants.

Tickets:
Last year, we got it at the venue itself and if i remember correctly it was priced around 100-200, don’t remember exactly..

Disclaimer:
I haven’t found the direct source of this news. Kindly confirm from other sources or look-back for updates (if any). Course, do let me know, if you find it yourself..

With events ranging from Rock Shows, Fashion Show, Choreography, Pro-nite Performances to Debates, Jam, Quiz, Art events, Dramatics, Street Play, Music and Games, Unmaad this year will be 72 hours of non stop action and fun that promises you the experience of a lifetime. With a host of new workshops, new events, online games and the ‘War of the Corporates’, Unmaad 2008 is all set to be a roller coaster ride for everyone.

check out http://www.unmaad.com for more details on the events

The Pro-Nite shows (Music Concerts) this year:

1. Feb 1st – Rock show featuring Motherjane and Zero – Time 7 pm

They are among the most popular rock acts in the country. This being a rock show, there will be no separate enclosures or categories, nor there any seating provided. The ticket prize is Rs 100 and gates will open at 6.30 in the evening.

To buy online http://www.iticket.in/CinemaResult.asp?MovieList=715&TransDate=2/1/2008

2. Feb 2nd – Unity concert featuring Strings and Mrigya – Time 7 pm

We are proud to be host to this unique concept called the Unity concert, of which this is the 3rd edition. Strings is one of the most popular bands to emerge out of Pakistan and their shows are known to be simply mind blowing. Mrigya, with their incredible blend of classical and modern instruments, is one of the most well known fusion bands in India and have numerous international concerts to their credit.

For this show there will be 2 categories priced and Rs 100 and 200 respectively. The Rs. 200 section will be further divided into 2 categories, seating and standing. The seated section will be mostly reserved for Profs and sponsors.

To buy online http://www.iticket.in/CinemaResult.asp?MovieList=716&TransDate=2/2/2008

All ticket enquiries can be routed to Ankit Baveja ( 9986507020) and Shekhar Gupta: 9243444363.

PGSEM (@ IIM-B) & Cisco take immense pleasure & pride in soliciting your august presense at Convergenz-08, a forum for interaction between Industry, Academia & Alumni. It is on this day, in the environs of IIM Bangalore, that some of the best minds from the Industry would discuss on challenges of the day.

Theme: Innovation & Product Management

Date: Sunday, 13th Jan, 2008

Events:

1. Business Quiz (Starts: 1 PM)

• Open to all folks of the hi-tech companies from Bangalore
• Organized by Prof. Rajeev Gowda (of Karnataka Quiz Association)
• Prize Money worth Rs. 40K to be won
• Over 100 teams to participate

2. Panel Discussion (Starts: 6: 30 PM)

Topic – ‘Building an Innovation Ecosystem in India’

Panelists:

• Mr. Vinod Deshmukh, CTO, Mindtree
• Prof. Sadagopan, Director, IIIT
• Mr. Rajeev Mehtani, MD, NXP Semiconductors

Other potential panelists:

• Mr. Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies
• Mr. Bobby Mitra, MD, Texas Instruments
• Mr. K.B. Chandrashekhar, CEO, Jamcracker

3. Case Analyses (Starts 1:30 PM)

• Participation open to IIM-B students
• Business Challenges faced by the hi-tech industry in India on product management
• Analysis by students who handle technology and business with equal poise
• Judged by industry experts and the eminent academia in IIM-B

[slideshare id=224951&doc=iimbs-pgsem-presents-convergenz-08-1200075153711937-4&w=425]

[Slides above: Convergenz 08 Invite]

What is PGSEM all about ?

• Executive general management education program offered by IIM-B
• Developed in close partnership with Software and IT industry
• Customized for mid-career professionals in the Software and Information Technology industry

For the patient souls, few videos about PGSEM:

Added attractions of the festival, apart from over a million books on show, are the cultural programmes that happen everyday – ranging from children’s dance programmes to carnatic jugalbandis.

The added sweetener for Book lover is the hefty discounts offered on all titles – including the latest releases – I bought Dev Anand’s autobiography at a neat 140 Rupee Discount!

There over 300 stalls in the book fair – with a sizeable representation of all classes and languages of books. I had gone there with my family – and there was something for everyone. My parents were rather delighted to find the range of Kannada books and magazines on display – and they bought quite a few, with discounts ranging from 10 to 20%.

There was a stall with Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings displayed – and with reproductions available for sale as well – at reasonable prices – starting from as low as 50 Rupees!

There was this gorgeous paiting – printed on Canvas, which I thought would fit right onto my wall, but at 4,000 Rupees was slightly beyond my means – so I bought a paper reproduction of the same! (Unfortunately no web link seems available!)

There are also various book publishers – Tata McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall India, Navkarnataka, Cambridge University Press, and many more!

For the spiritually minded, there are various stalls from publishers and spiritual organisations alike – Ramana Maharshi Ashram, ISCKON, etc., – although notable absentees were Art of Living Foundation.

Exclusive stalls on Islam, Gandhiji, on rare books etc., were among the niche stalls

Kannada Language book, littérateurs profiles are available in a wide range – stalls from Navakarnataka, Sahitya Parishad and the like display the best of Kannada literature available – so if you want to discover Kannada literature, head straight to the Book Festival.

Update: Another Book Festival is on at Palace Grounds, off Mekhri Circle. 2 & 4 wheeler parking is widely available, and hassle free. Open on weekends till 9pm from about 11 in the morning

Rotary Bangalore IT Corridor and Crossover Sports are organizing Bangalore’s first midnight marathon on May 19, 2007. For more details check: http://www.coindia.com

Claims to be the first ever midnight marathon in the world. However a simple google search says otherwise (brought to notice by Charles Haynes of bangalore metblogs). I wonder how they ever came up with the “world’s first” thing.

For the true marathoner/leggers or first timers, you should get in touch with the runnersforlife guys. The article written by Arvind Krishnan is also a useful read before doing the marathon. These guys do regular practice runs in different parts of bangalore. Atleast, they did when I took part in the 2005 Bangalore Marathon. Checked their mailing list, apparantly they still do.

There is also an inter-corporate “relay” marathon contest to be held to get the corporates on-board. No harm in getting some corporate money !!

My blog entry for the 2005 bangalore international marathon:

Yippedee.. I made the finish line..

History was made, the first Bangalore International Marathon. The race began at 9.15am, flagged off by our CM, Mr. Dharam Singh. It all began with loud cheers and thumping of feet, 12000×2 of them. My friends Poon-Poon and Amshu were also doing the run with me. The 12000 leggers took some time to cross the relatively narrow gate of the Kanteerva stadium. The initial 1km on kasturba road was the easiest upto cubbonpark. The crowd on the way was crazy, it was unbelievable, there were few women running in their sarees and salwar-kameezs and more surprisingly making good time. But that went on only till the 1km mark, after that they were irritatingly blocking our way.

After that, the people still running were people like me. All these guys and gals mostly in their teens, twenties were running and sweatin hard and most of all on a sunday morning!! The marathon was being run for different causes: HIV/AIDS patients, street children, environment, old age homes, etc. Some were running for the cause, some just to see if they can make it, some just to lose weight overall it was a challenge.

An inspiring nice thing that I saw, was of a person in a wheelchair on the move. Later I met an old friend named Pushkar and his friend. Its nice when you run with company, you really don’t know the distance then. Later in the course, we were stopped by few women on a jeep with Radiocity tshirts for an interview. It turned out to be Fiona and Basanti. Hmm.. now I have a face for the voices that have been rocking the city.

At around 10.15am, (thats an hour for the course) we were back at the Kanteerva and made the finish line. It was a great feeling to finish the course. Tiring but very Satisfying.. I could do it.

Next time I will do the 42km one, wonder what I would be upto then.

BPF commenced in all its glory on 15th of April at Leela Galleria. There were photographs of the professional lensmen like Balachandar, Mahesh Shantaram, Pallon Daruwala, Rudra Sen, Ramya Reddy, Neha Bajaj, Shibu Arakkal, Vivek Mathew and others. Balachandar’s work was mostly from Shravanbelagola and he had published the book “Gommata”, which was kept for preview. Mahesh Shantaram had featured his works from Srilanka, which were quite green, and few works from Bangalore (Air show I presume). Ramya Reddy’s artsy-craftsy works were as charming and gorgeous as her; I immediately fell in love with a backless lady on the couch. Neha Bajaj’s portraits were mesmerizing; I particularly liked the composition and lighting in the portrait of a smoking man and the cute street kid. Vivek’s few works were displayed but all three were magnetic, especially the rooster one had nice colours and vivacity. Rudra Sen’s landscapes were amazing, the dawn at Manipal was so aesthetic and artistic that many people reckoned it to be a painting and the black and white Himalayan landscape was brilliant. Sai Darshan’s photographs were simple yet elegant. Dazzling by their novelty and brilliance, Wasim Khan’s works grabbed maximum attention. The genre of fashion photography itself is so alluring, add to it Wasim’s creativity, a perfect combo for the viewers. Pallon Daruwalla, an alumnus of Brooks, had displayed mostly his black and white works; they carried a huge price tag along. His sunset shot tremendously impressed me, it was his masterpiece. The ambience of the exhibition was decent, mellifluous music of the grand piano performed by artists with deft fingers soothed and pacified the people watching photographs

Finally there was one section that I was breathlessly eager to have a look, the amateur section. The reason for my eagerness was my participation. I’ve got two friends alongside who also start searching for my photographs, first row NO, second row NO, third NO, not present in the whole set. There is something behind, again first row NO, second row NO, third NO. Disconcerted and dismayed I spoke to the Crossover crew, with a wry smile on the face he said that the photos were put up randomly, if not today I can find it tomorrow, day after or sometime during the whole week.

Third day I was delighted to see few of my works among the amateur section. I happened to meet the beautiful, graceful and accomplished fine art photographer Ramya Reddy. She was kind enough to spare few minutes for my photographs and gave valuable comments. Happened to talk to few of the media students doing their internship in Indian Express and Deccan Herald. I ran into a bunch of my colleagues, whom I didn’t know personally before that moment.

Fourth day I could meet exquisitely simple Vivek Mathew. He gave me priceless tips about photography, spent considerable time on my photographs and critiqued it like a true professional. He introduced me to Sai Darshan and Meister of photography – Hellmuth Conz, who were very kind hearted to give technical comments on my photographs. My photograph titled “Field of Gold” – the one with silhouette of a skating kid received good amount of praise and appreciation.

Fifth and sixth days were again disheartening for I couldn’t find any of my works. But with intense interest I spent considerable amount of time on amateurs work, for many were as good as professional ones. Difference was it was not framed and given lesser space.

Seventh day was the party day. The ambience looked nicer and brighter with lit candles at corners, tables neatly draped with red cloth carrying a bowl of chips and peanuts. Wine and whiskey glasses in rhythmically arranged pattern. Between the pillar and a photo stand I happened to see a face, I recognized in a jiffy. It feels great and joyous to meet a friend in an exhibition whom I had not met for four years, better still, she had grabbed a couple more of her friends to show my works. Fortunately two more photographs of mine were on display. Mahesh Shantaram spoke to me for a while about his photography, career. I ran into veteran photographer Ram Panjaabi, he remembered his early years of photography when the idea of digital was not yet conceived, difficulties of printing and publishing, difficulties of reaching out to the people. We exchanged our contacts and bid good-bye to each other.

Final day had the workshop conducted by Apple on Aperture software. It was an hour spent in Nidhi hall of Leela palace learning about Apple in general, Aperture in particular. The knowledge acquired there would require me to spend a fortune to put that into use, for I’m no Apple user. Post workshop I spoke to Prem of Crossover who gave me some tips and tricks of life and career, and in return I told him that the show was useful and a debut hit, but could be greatly improved. Another close friend of mine barged into the exhibition hall who was kind enough to spare his precious Sunday evening for the exhibition.

Overall the exhibition was a great hit. Crossover sports was overwhelmed with the response they received despite having a per category fee of Rs. 250. It feels good to know there are so many mortals out there doing happy clicks. We amateurs got great exposure, happened to meet some cool people, exchanged thoughts and cards. I guess many professional photographers were brought into limelight here, they could sell their stuff, meet people, get published. I was a tad disappointed about the way amateurs’ works were handled but when compared to the good it has made, my qualms are negligible. But my suggestion to Crossover (for the next show) would be to filter the amateurs’ works before they are displayed, so that only few good photographs are displayed. I saw few works that were technically not up to the mark to be exhibited – out of focus, unintentional blur. It was a great debut and I hope it ushers in many more photography events in Bangalore.

About the guest blogger of this post, Sachin B:

Describes himself as “A Natgeo wannabe photographer, a person who loves to be in Tundra photographing all those wild polar bears and wolves, who loves to wander in the Sahara to capture those landscapes, who loves to be in the wilderness of Amazon basin, who loves to roam Central Asia for photographing its various Ethnics.”

Photos links: http://www.photo.net/photos/Sachin%20Bharadwaj

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sachinb

Image Above: While at shanghai, he was invited by Cityweekend magazine to their studios and made to stand in front of lens for the first time. “It was a fun filled hour, where we realized its hard to models than being photographers. Finally the issue came out and here we are.”

A sample of his photos:

TITLE : Four Horse Men

TITLE: Road To Town

TITLE: Lake in the Desert

Sachin Dude, you’re gonna go a long way.. Keep up the great work !!

Its raining bands in bangalore and this time its one of the greatest rock & roll bands of all times, Aerosmith.

Yes its true, though earlier there was news that Aerosmith would be performing in Mumbai. It appears now that they will be performing in namma bengaluru at palace grounds on June 2, 2007.

Still, don’t believe me.. Check out the link: http://www.aerosmith.com/tour.cfm

Aeroforceone.com, the official fan club site also says “STATUS: Please Note VENUE and CITY CHANGE”

I don’t think you wanna miss this thing !!

UPDATE:

www.ticketpro.in says tickets will be available from May 10, 2007

Tickets are priced at Rs. 1200 & Rs. 1800 (Rs. 300 more than the Iron Maiden concert)

Apparently tickets can be bought online at https://shop.ticketpro.in/event_detail.asp?evnt=37 (i’m yet to try it)

Latest Update:

Tickets available in select Nokia, Planet M, Reliance Web World, Baskin Robins, Opus outlets..

[Image above: Tala Vadya, Percussion Band]

The Fireflies Festival of Sacred Music was held on Saturday (April 14, 2007) at the Fireflies Ashram, off Kanakapura road in Bangalore. It was earlier called as Bhoomi Jathre and this is the fifth year that the festival was being organized. The theme for this year is “Business and social/ecological responsibility.”

My experience at this event follows:

I got a forwarded email about this event and was recommended as a must see by my friend Subhash, who had been there for the previous edition in 2006. However, our only plan after watching the movie namesake was to enjoy a 18 km drive on Kanakapura road and hang out at the fireflies centre for an hour or so. So, we reached the place at around 9 pm. By the way, this event was from 6 pm (sunset) to 6 am (sunrise), which demanded a night out. However, we stuck around till 2 am and believe me, it was totally worth it..

The ambiance for this all-night event was just amazing. The stage was built around a huge banyan tree, below which the various bands performed. The audience (about 500 of them) were seated on concrete amphitheater like seats and comfortably looked down on the bands. I could see that few people had come prepared with shawls and even pillows for the night out.

The first musical event we saw was the “Tala Vadya” percussion group. I am not much of a classical musical expert, but that did not stop me from enjoying the different rhythms and thallas played by the musicians playing on different percussion instruments like mridangam, tabla, gatam, percussion pad etc..

[Video above: Tala Vadya (Karnataka College of Percussion)]

Next, was a performance by Clio Karabelia on the harp. Her hand and finger movement on the harp strings looked quite complicated and I appreciate her talent for the same. But, there was something wrong with this fusion performance, my views:

• The sitar and tabla was more dominant and audible
• She had some trouble tuning the harp (which we were told is a complicated process, because of the size and number of strings)
• She singing the hindu hymns honestly wasn’t working

[Image and Video above: Clio Karabelia (French Harpist), accompanied by Indian classical Music (Sitar and Tabla)]

Just when we wanted to leave, we heard about the next performance by the Jazz revival band. Leaving, No way !! What can I say, you had to be there to have enjoy the moment, which transported you to some other world..

[Image and Video above: Dr. Thomas Chandy with his group - Jazz Revival]

The next event of dollu kunita (drum dance in kannada) was definitely the highlight of the night, in terms of energy and sheer excitement it brought among the crowd watching. Later even after the event was over on stage, the crowd joined the drummers and danced like crazy to the beats of this dance form from Karnataka.. hats-off to the troupe member’s talent and stamina (to dance and perform continuously for an hour or so)

[Image and Video above: Dollu Kunita, watch for the building tempo of the drum beats and exhilarating dance movements in this video]

Other performances were to follow, like the famed oikyotaan, but it was time to go.. I will be there next year, prepared and ready with a better camera..

Fireflies music festival 2006:

• photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jace/sets/72057594103824468/
• review: http://aravind-krishnaswamy.blogspot.com/2006/04/fireflies-festival-of-sacred-music.html
• The Hindu: http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/31/stories/2006033100510200.htm